Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla has pulled most of its capital out of Greece as that country’s debt crisis comes to a head. 

 

Arla told news agency Reuters on Monday that it has also cut stocks in Greece in an effort to reduce risk. 

 

“We will continue our business in Greece no matter what, however if Greece exits the euro, we anticipate that our annual revenue of 30-40 million euros ($33-44 million) could be cut in half,” Arla said in an email to Reuters.

 

For the latest on the Greece crisis, see The Local Germany

 

Arla is one of Europe’s largest dairy companies. Began as a co-operative between Danish and Swedish milk farmers back in the 1880s, it now has 12,500 owners based in seven countries: Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. 

 

Greek banks and the nation’s stock exchange were closed on Monday and the Greek crisis reverberated throughout Europe, including in Denmark where the Danish C20 Cap index opened with a 4.12 percent drop on Monday morning as investors panicked at the news of Greek PM Alexis Tsipras's unexpected decision on Saturday to call for a national referendum on the latest reform package that the International Monetary Fund (IMF)  and other international lenders have demanded that Greece implement in return for more loans.

 

On Monday, German Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged Greeks to vote yes in July 5th Greek referendum on whether to accept creditors' terms for international bailout.